Data Curation Profile – Aerospace Engineering / Chemical Kinetics

In the process of running an experiment, this researcher generates a variety of files from text to video, from open source formats to proprietary files specific to the equipment involved. His entire output for his dissertation research amounts to approximately several gigabytes of data. Outside of datasets downloadable as supplemental information maintained by discipline specific academic journals in which he has published, there are no formal venues for sharing data. Protocols for data management are highly researcher-specific in his lab, though data on lab servers is backed up regularly. There are no specific standards for either data management or sharing within the institution or even between labs.